Breaking the Code: The Role of Books in Emergent Literacy

In our previous blog, we talked about the importance of reading to your child early and often, not only to advance her language skills, but to build the foundation she will need to eventually be able to read and write.  Early literacy experts refer to these foundational, or pre-reading skills, as emergent literacy – simply, children's knowledge of reading and writing before they actually learn to read and write the words.  Broadly speaking, these skills encompass language use, depth of vocabulary, and awareness of word parts and sounds (phonemic awareness).  These core elements will make a profound difference in your child's ability to read.  By far the best way to build these skills is to surround your baby with books and foster a love of reading by reading aloud as often as possible.

“Breaking the code” is what reading is all about

Every time you read aloud to your child you are providing clues to help him break the code and eventually learn to read and write.  Early on, reading is simply a process of educated guesswork.  The more your child knows about language, the more clues he will have about what the words may be saying and what they mean. 

Books with pictures tell part of the story.  But if your child can name and describe the pictures, he will have words at the tip of his tongue that are likely to be used in the story.  The letters in the words provide phonemic, or sound clues, and if your child can name the letters or knows their associated sounds, he can often guess the likely candidates with the right beginning sound even before he “sounds out” the whole word.  Beginning texts are filled with regularly spelled and common words so your child will unconsciously use his familiarity with sound patterns to help him figure out how the letters go together and what word they make. Your child probably loves to have his favorite stories read again and again.  While this may seem tiring to you, it’s valuable practice in recognizing common words.  Encourage your child by pointing out these words and helping him to sound them out.

The Role of Repetition, Rhyme, Alliteration, and Letter Knowledge

Without realizing it, your child is also using grammar clues to identify words and interpret sentences.   As she becomes more familiar with language patterns, she begins to anticipate what sort of word is likely to come next in a sentence and can tell when a guess does not fit with the rules of her language.  Good authors promote this by using lots of repetition.  For example, in Play with Me, by Marie Hallets, your child will be “reading” the oft-repeated phrase “Will you play with me?” in no time.   Be sure to give her the opportunity to “read” rather than simply reading along yourself.  Repetition features prominently in many children’s books and songs and for good reason.  For example, “The wheels of the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round…” or “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream…” will rapidly imprint on the young child's brain -- and yours.

Besides repetition, many books for beginners use rhyme to give children additional clues.  Rhyming combines speech sounds in predictable ways, making it much easier for them to recognize common word patterns and begin to anticipate them.  Include nursery rhyme books and poetry in the books you read with your child. And make sure to keep building that repertoire of songs and nursery rhymes to pull out whenever you are spending time with your child – in the car, walking to the grocery store, at bath or bedtime, or waiting in a line.  There's lots more information on the role of rhyming in early literacy development in our May 18, 2020, blog. 

Alliteration is another effective approach authors of children’s books use to promote sound awareness in words.  Alliteration is the repetition of the first letter, usually a consonant, in two or more closely connected words.  For example, in Mo’s Mustache, by Ben Clanton, “Mo just got a mustache. A big, black, beautiful mustache.”  “….And says hello to a nice, new scarf. A long, lined, lovely scarf.  Comfy and cozy, too!” 

Of course, ABC books like ABC, Look at Me, by Roberta Grobel Intrater, are essential to learning letter sounds.  It’s not enough for your child to simply know the alphabet.  She needs to know the sounds the letters make and how letters combine to make new sounds altogether.  Repetition, rhyming, alliteration, and letter knowledge help your child tune in to parts of words and begin to separate the pieces and blend them together.  Being able to interpret and combine these clues quickly is what reading is all about.

A Strong Vocabulary Makes all the Difference

Once your child has passed the initial code-breaking stage, her vocabulary assumes greater importance.  Now book authors use longer and less common words with greater frequency and embed them in more complex sentences.  Consider Bonnie Bader’s Fly, Butterfly, which follows the 2,500-mile migration of a monarch butterfly to Mexico for the winter.  This story introduces children to multiple complex and interwoven concepts and uses more sophisticated vocabulary in the telling.  Along the butterfly's journey, children learn the life-cycle of a butterfly and the impact of the seasons, climate, and vegetation along its route.  Less familiar words like larvae, chrysalis, delicate, miraculous, emerges, and so forth are included in the text.  With a good vocabulary she may already know some of these less common words, and that knowledge will help her figure out the meaning of the unfamiliar words from the context.  Her knowledge of grammar, or syntax, is also helpful.  Again, much of this vocabulary development occurs so rapidly that she doesn’t even know that she’s constantly learning new words.

These longer, more complex stories are wonderful opportunities for extending the learning with open-ended questions.  Questions like “I wonder why…”, or “What do you think will happen next?” will keep your child wanting to read on to find out the answers.  In fact, many books for young children are written in a questioning format to promote exactly this kind of exchange.  An excellent example is I Wonder, by K.A. Holt, with illustrations by Kenard Park.  By asking whimsical questions, this book taps into children’s unique point of view of often seeing things for the very first time.

A large vocabulary at school entry is a strong predictor of future success.  If your child spends less time learning to read and more time reading to learn, his vocabulary will continue to expand.  And if he knows more words, he’s likely to learn new ones at a faster pace as he reads “harder” books.  These new words, in turn, make it easier for him to read and enjoy more sophisticated writing, thus further increasing his vocabulary.  Thus, if he starts school with the advantage of a strong vocabulary, he is likely to increase his edge over those whose vocabularies are weak. Children with weak vocabularies at school entrance tend not to catch up and often need special help.  Not surprisingly, this ever-widening gap has significant consequences for educational futures and subsequent employment opportunities.

Surround your children with books and read aloud to them as often as you can.  No matter their ages, every time you do so, they are gradually picking up the clues that will one day allow them to break the code and read all on their own.

 -- Caron Bell, PhD, Early Childhood Development, and beginwithbooks.org volunteer

Note: The books featured in this blog are all selections from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  BEGIN WITH BOOKS is a licensed affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.